Today, let's talk about natural light The real life of overseas students, talking about the "ideal" before going abroad and the "reality" after going abroad Before going abroad, students will probably have a portrait of their life after studying abroad, just like the mood before unpacking express mixed with expectation, unknown and imagination. Whether it is good or bad, after studying abroad, they will find that the original is not quite the same as expected? We visited many students and teachers and collected some "buyer shows". Students who are ready to go abroad can see what the real life of studying abroad is like, and students who have already gone abroad can see what resonance they have with their fellow students. Now let's talk about the ideal versus reality of studying abroad.
"Ideal" before going abroad and "reality" after going abroad:
Tian, a 2017 graduate of Natural Light, Department of Innovative Design:
Ideal: Before going abroad to study, I will have a general picture of my future classmates. I think that the students who may squeeze into famous schools must be excellent, and the pressure of learning competition will be great. perhaps Application for art study abroad All of them are the rich second generation of the family. Just play every day.
Reality: After going abroad, I found that people's impression of overseas students is still relatively fixed and one-sided. The group of overseas students can be described as "a mixture of good and bad". Some people just want to learn something. You can't imagine how hard people who study hard work; Some people are simply gilded. They don't study hard without their parents. In order to change places to play in college for a few years, they even touch some bad things. Here we remind you to learn more from positive students. After all, learning opportunities are precious. If you study hard abroad, you can learn a lot; In addition to these two types, in fact, some students will start work and entrepreneurship at the stage of studying abroad. Their goal is another aspect and growth. It is good for everyone to choose their own contact groups.
Meiqi, 2018 graduate of Natural Light, Chunyi:
Ideal: Before I went abroad, I was really worried about language problems. I was afraid that my language would bring some inconvenience to my life, and I was even more worried about not understanding teachers and classmates' speeches, which would affect my study. So I concentrated on learning English for a long time before preparing my portfolio, and my grades were very high. In addition, I usually watched American TV dramas crazily. Anyway, it was a confident past.
Reality: After I went there, I found that I was really confident in mystery. Even though I had practiced oral and listening skills before, I still felt that my English was not good when I came to the United States. Then I looked at the Chinese students around me, and found that most of them were like this. They were afraid to say, embarrassed, and afraid of embarrassment.
When doing homework in groups, some students from small language countries have strong accents, such as Franglais and Korean. When it comes to group work, such as writing a project or presentation, it is embarrassing to listen. I often encounter this kind of situation. I always want to laugh (because my smile is a little low), and then I try hard to hold it.
But it is easy to learn English well because we are young and have strong learning and adaptability. I have a good friend whose English accent is terrible, but she is very bold to say that I want to laugh when listening to her speak English, but because she is not afraid of anything, she has made great progress. I watched her progress. Later, I learned from this student. I would speak boldly, ask if I didn't understand, speak hard if I didn't understand, and actively integrate into the environment. The more I didn't speak English, the worse it was. Then I could improve in the process of speaking. And there is no need to be afraid of saying something wrong. Foreigners who know that your mother tongue is not English will listen to you patiently or explain it to you very nicely. In this way, I have made rapid progress. I obviously feel that English is smoother than before. They can understand everything they say, and have no problem communicating. In short, they have adapted to all aspects very well.
Lin：
Ideal: After accepting the offer, the next step is generally to find a satisfactory house. But when I first came here, I didn't know what kind of dormitories were available for students to choose. I was worried about finding roommates and houses.
Reality: The most important thing for me to go abroad is to find a good house first, because this is the first step, the most basic and important step in studying and living abroad. A comfortable residence can not only save a lot of headaches, but also improve the quality of life and learning. You will feel at ease when you find a good house to live in.
But when I came here, I thought, Eh? It doesn't seem to be as troublesome as I thought. If you want to find a house, there will always be Chinese students in the orientation of the school before the school starts, including the seniors who will be studying. My suggestion is to ask the seniors to ask for some Chinese student groups. Generally, you can ask anything in these groups, such as WeChat groups, because there are many experienced people in the group, How should I find a house? How to rent a house? What do you think of the house? How to buy furniture? As for eating, drinking and having fun, everyone will give advice or resources in the group, which can still provide a lot of convenience for most international students.
May：
Ideal: Before I went abroad, I thought that the study in the graduate stage was more important than that in the undergraduate stage, and I thought that the undergraduate stage might be easier.
Reality: I didn't know until I came here that the GPA of university is the most important, more important than that of graduate students. The high GPA of university will be the highlight on the resume. Many people are fond of playing and want to read graduate students casually during the university and then read it carefully. But in fact, the experience and achievements of university in your resume are more important than that of graduate students. For example, if student A is a graduate student in NYU and student B is a graduate student only in NYU, even if student A is no longer a graduate student, his sense of superiority is greater than that of student B. They will think that it will not be good to study as a graduate student in a good school, but if you are a university here, you will have a greater aura than studying as a graduate student here.
In fact, there are a lot of small tips about getting a high GPA. I think the first thing is to plan your own schedule when selecting courses. When you are exposed to new knowledge, you should choose something within your power. If two classes are very project oriented, you should try to see if you can stagger them. Secondly, it is also very important to choose a good Study Buddy. You can't find someone who is too poor, because those who are too good at performance usually have a good foundation, a fast pace, and are easy to fall behind. A good study buddy can enable two people to make rapid progress together. Another thing is that if I want to stay behind, it is necessary to preview and prepare in advance. Moreover, running ahead at the beginning will give me more confidence, and I can also have the time and ability to help my classmates.
Student Jan, 2018 graduate of Natural Light, Architectural Space Department:
Ideal: Before I went out, I had a perfect and expected study abroad life in my mind. I imagined that I would meet many people, make many friends, participate in various activities, and then make full use of my time in balabala···
Reality: I have been in the UK for one and a half years now, and I still feel lonely occasionally, but it should also be human nature. It is not because I am an international student, so I feel good and have gradually become accustomed to it. Because my view on making friends is that a few good friends are enough, so life is relatively quiet. When friends are free, they will go out to eat together, visit museums, watch musicals, and chat with friends to adjust.
But I still remember very clearly when I first came to England. It was June at that time, and I could still bask in the sun on the square at 8:00 pm. It was not dark at 10:00 pm. On the first night, I couldn't sleep because of jet lag. I stared at the ceiling in my little bed and thought, why should I abandon my previous life and live in a place that was completely strange and didn't even speak well? Suddenly, the infinite fear of the unknown life rose in my heart, and I missed my previous life, family and friends. Then look at the graduation students in the circle of friends who have begun to find a place in the workplace, but they are still facing the unknown. In contrast, they are somewhat anxious and desolate.
It is true that most of the foreign students did not adapt to it for some time when they went abroad alone. I'm not alone. But everyone has different ways to deal with it. For example, I later put most of my time and energy on improving my professional level and performance. The school library is actually a place where I can gain a lot if I use it well, Extremely satisfied in spirit. Later, I answered a student's question in the library and helped them solve their homework problems. After that, we ate and talked together by the river. At that moment, I felt as if I had integrated into the city.
Xueting, 2016 natural light graduate, fashion design department:
Ideal: When I was in China, my teacher arranged a lot of basic courses for me. I was very surprised, because I felt that I had only eight months to spare, and I was afraid that I could not finish my collection of works. I also felt that I had to take basic courses when I went out. Isn't it a waste of time now?
Reality: In my first year at Parsons, we all took very basic professional courses. Many people can take one year to consider the suitable majors for themselves if they chose undecided before applying. However, I decided to learn how to design a major. Then there was a lot of competition, and the daily workload was huge. Moreover, most of the students who apply for art schools still have art foundation. After the school starts, they will meet many students who have good foundation, or more accurately, have very good foundation and talent. At this time, I understood why the teacher arranged basic courses for me, because if I didn't have basic courses at that time, even if I got an offer and joined Parsons, my learning progress would fall behind a lot. I have a good foundation, but I also work very hard to keep up with the progress of other students. If I can't keep up with the progress, it really affects my confidence. There is also software. It is best to master it well before coming to school. For many service assignments, professors will also assign software to do works.
Therefore, it is very helpful to learn basic courses well, whether it is for the completion of the portfolio or for the subsequent learning foundation after the start of school. The basic courses may be boring and have been learned once, but they can be explored constantly in the course. Even the basic courses have more space for in-depth study.
Duo, a 2017 graduate of Natural Light, Chunyi:
Ideal: I am in a special situation. I got a master's degree in fine arts in China before. Later, I encountered some bottlenecks in my work and met some friends who came back from abroad. At first, I felt that the education we received was much worse, mainly because of the poor thinking. I thought for a long time, and then I went to second brush my master's degree. Until I left, I still doubted whether it was worth it.
Reality: I have been studying for a semester now, and the past half year has been very full. I spent more than half of my time free when I was studying for a master's degree in China. It also subverts many previous cognition, for example, the professional verticality is higher than previously thought, and the requirements for basic ability can be said to be very hard core. But because I often do projects, I can communicate and work with tutors and many people. Frequent presentation exercises the ability to make speeches, search, organize materials, summarize and propose ideas.
There is also a gain for second brush graduate students. Although they will encounter a lot of academic things during their graduate study, because they can work with professors and some insiders in the industry, they will gradually learn how to make money with art. Mastering this ability will not only help greatly in the future work, but also benefit the development of subsequent life.
Coco：
Ideal: Because there are really many Chinese students in some schools, and some students' IELTS scores do not meet the requirements of the application school at the beginning, they will encounter many difficulties in the examination and homework. Many people think that we can overcome the difficulties by "uniting" and helping each other, but it is not so easy!
Reality: When I first came here, I felt that I didn't know how to do my homework and didn't have confidence to pass the exam. At this time, I suggested that you go to the tutor center of the school to find the tutor, or ask the professor after class. Never directly ask your classmates to copy their answers. Maybe we don't think it's a big problem to learn from it, but professors usually think that this academic misconduct is very serious. If you meet a nice professor, the best thing you can do is to be caught by the professor and asked, and then do your homework again, or give you a fail. If you are a harsh professor, you can be directly taken to the leadership office of the school and recorded in the file. This file is permanent. If you go to the company to find a job, the company will search your file before hiring you. If there is a black spot on your file, it will have a great impact, which may directly lead to your inability to find a job. Unless you go to work outside, normal companies will look at your files.
Our professor also said that before your interview, companies will hack into your Facebook and Instagram, where they will see what your daily life is like. They should keep these social networking sites free of messy content, such as pictures or information that looks like your personal life is too messy, values are incorrect, and negative emotions are too much. If you have these photos, you need to delete them before you go to find a job, because it is easy for these companies to hack into your social networking site. To manage your social networking site well will also be part of proving yourself.
Dylanest：
Ideal: In my imagination before going abroad, I thought that if I went abroad, my classmates would have many beautiful women with blonde hair, blue eyes, sexy and hot appearance and long legs, but······
Reality: But I didn't expect that there are still many strong foreigners. The key is! I have a small secret that I found out about them. It turns out that their blondes are all dyed, just because blondes have the highest status. Only 1% of the blondes I saw were born blond, and the remaining 99% were dyed. In addition to blond hair, those with blue eyes would have more superiority. Before studying abroad, I had no idea of white supremacism. In my opinion, the United States is a multicultural country. At least several generations of people from various countries have stayed there, and have constantly integrated into the American society, gradually eliminating the concept of inequality. Of course, foreigners also believe that such values are wrong, People should not be labeled because of their color and race, nor should they be estranged from each other, or deny their characteristics and values. In fact, some foreigners are resisting white nationalism and white supremacism.
Asura, 2017 graduate of Natural Light, Graphic Design Department:
Ideal: Before coming to Britain, I heard a lot of praise for British life. I thought I would finally live a life without worrying about traffic jams, food safety, where to play, and air pollution.
Reality: After coming here, I found that all places except London are villages. Compared with China, one app can eat all kinds of cuisines. The most difficult thing to comfort when I first came to Britain is my Chinese stomach. It seems that the British people really don't care about food. It's just like that again and again. Sometimes they see a restaurant with high comments on Yelp. Take a closer look! Signature dish French fries! I remember that I once read a saying: "When you are in a foreign country, if you can settle your stomach, you can settle yourself." So in Britain, where Chinese food is expensive, I have learned the skill of steaming steamed buns from a cooking black hole. My other tough guy roommate majoring in sculpture is now studying soup and noodles at home in his spare time! In order to eat the Chinese food we cooked, friends can travel thousands of miles to my home for dinner.
If you solve the problem of eating, you think it's over! It's hard for a clever woman to make bricks without straw. In fact, shopping is not as convenient as in China. Many large supermarkets close early and only open on weekdays. Others open at 12:00 and close at 2:00. In addition, many things need to be bought too much as soon as they buy them. Then bars close early in the evening. Sometimes they think this is too buggy. In any case, you'd better plan ahead of time for shopping. Don't go overboard. When you come from home, you should take what you need.
Boyoo, 2018 graduate of Natural Light, Department of Innovative Design:
Ideal: I think foreigners are casual in interpersonal communication. They can talk like friends regardless of age and identity, and chat with each other for fun. In short, they are free and relaxed.
Reality: But after living for a period of time, I found that in fact, in the casual atmosphere, there are many etiquette rules to follow. For example, appointments are everywhere. Many times, from eating to seeing a doctor, you have to make an appointment in advance. Maybe it's too convenient for us to live in China, so it's normal for us to do something temporarily. But behind the simple appointment abroad, it is actually the embodiment of the western contract spirit. Appointment means that both parties are in compliance, and I have deliberately set aside my time and energy. The appointment in advance also shows respect and attention to each other, especially some important occasions and events, Receiving a temporary invitation will make the other party feel a bit offensive. Moreover, the appointment system also saves us a lot of unnecessary waiting time.
There are also some seemingly ordinary behaviors, such as not letting others accompany you when you need to talk alone; Arrive 10 minutes in advance for appointment/class; Be confident in your spoken English. Don't stop talking half way, or you will be misunderstood as you don't want to talk to them; Timely reply after receiving the email; Try to avoid talking to Chinese students in the face of crooked nuts in a language that he cannot understand; Don't despise others' beliefs even if you don't believe in religion; Touch a passer-by and say sorry; Before sneezing, you'd better say "excuse me" and ask others to add please, etc···
While being polite to others, you must be confident of your own country and culture, and you cannot allow others to be rude to you or your own country. When it's time to fight back, not all people in developed countries are very qualified, especially some alcoholics, low-income earners, and young people who do nothing on the roadside, They are one of the most dangerous groups not subject to the law, so try to stay away from them.
Richie, 2015 graduate of Natural Light, digital media system:
Ideal: Is it really advantageous for international students, especially those studying in art, to go back to China to look for jobs after graduation? With more and more foreign students, is the competitiveness growing? I didn't answer this question until I returned home after graduation.
Reality: Studying abroad is a big trend. Now we all know that foreign education is more advanced, let alone art, a subject with better development in the West. I came back after graduation. I found that the graduation from famous schools and the background of studying abroad really gave me more opportunities than others. But I have to say that after studying abroad, I returned home immediately without working experience. Except for better English, I started similar to domestic college students and graduate students, as well as overseas returnees, and my competitiveness did not improve significantly. Therefore, the returned overseas students finally fight for jobs with their works and strength. If you don't have real skills, it's really useless to just have a degree.
These are the feelings of our 12 teachers and students. Some tell you that "studying abroad is not as beautiful as we imagined", and some also tell you that "studying abroad is not as hard as we imagined". Whatever the contrast, we hope that students can adjust their mentality and find solutions when facing difficulties, Get a better self in the life of studying abroad.
Natural light shares more topics for you:
University study abroad _Course_Teaching model_Differences between domestic education and study abroad
The real life of overseas students, talking about the "ideal" before going abroad and the "reality" after going abroad
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